Baker baseball team wins opener

BAKER – Bucky Locke provided the pitching and Brian Benoit the power as the Baker baseball team opened the 2012 season with a 5-3 win over South Walton on Monday.

Locke, who has signed to play baseball next year for Northwest Florida State College, picked up the complete game win. He allowed just three Seahawk hits while striking out eight batters and not giving up an earned run.

Benoit provided the power by way of a monster grand slam home run in the third inning that proved to be all the offensive support Locke needed although the Gators (1-0) did add and insurance run in the sixth.

But pitching really was the order of the cold and windy night as Seahawk starter Dustin Allen almost matched Locke pitch-for-pitch for the first five innings.

Allen mowed down seven Gator batters while giving up eight hits.

Allen’s undoing was the third inning when Benoit connected on the grand slam.

Even before Baker’s big third inning the Gators threatened in the second.

Benoit led off the Baker second with a single and stole second base. Matt Leverington was next and singled moving Benoit to third base.

But rather than a big inning, the Gators were caught in the little seen double play when Kyle Davis struck out and Benoit was picked off third as Leverington stole second.

One batter later Zac Switzer popped out to center and the inning that started with so much promised end with a whimper.

Benoit more than made up for his mistake on the base paths in the third innig.

The Gator third started out innocently enough with a base hit by Logan Nixon. But two batters later Nixon was still on first base.

Chris Nixon kept the inning alive as he was safe on a swinging bunt that died in the grass between the pitchers mound and third base. Locke then drilled a single to left field to load the bases for Benoit.

Allen put the one-ball, no strikes pitch right in Benoit’s wheelhouse and the big first baseman drove it out of the yard.

Leverington was hit by an Allen pitch in to lead off the Baker sixth and came around to score on a single by Davis to give the Gators some breathing room.

South Walton finally cracked the scoreboard in the seventh inning scoring three unearned runs on a pair of Gator errors.

“I thought Bucky got on the mound and did a typical Bucky job, but it is early and he did miss some spots,” Gator coach Gary Taylor said, “But he kept them off balance and was able to pitch his game.

“I thought we played really well. We had a lot of people in new positions. We did make two errors at the end of the game and give them three runs, but overall I felt like we fielded the ball behind Bucky when it was hit.”